one way i spot trends is simply by looking at the review units offered to me and comparing them with what i currently havea dubious indicator, but it works. whatever piles up is hot! right now the primary technology literally piling up on my doorstep is all 802.11-relatedmostly of the 802.11g variety and some 802.11a/g gear. each iteration of these wireless inventions is better and more interesting than the previous ones. it's wild.

three main playersd-link, linksys, and netgear (along with a lot of small-timers and specialty houses)are making 802.11 gear. i have used equipment from all these companies, and i find little difference between the products, although lab results show variations. in the wireless arena, you'll find different versions of gigabit switches, network-attached storage subsytems, indoor and outdoor wireless access points, and more.

with so many players, there is a massive rush to develop and market new products. this situation gives rise to a unique double-edged sword for buyers: they get great products for very little money, but because competition steps up the rate of change, obsolescence is faster, and buyers have to shorten the buying cycle to stay abreast of the best technology. it's a fast pace for sure.

a fast growth stage like this can sustain many companies, and it's quite likely that d-link, linksys, and netgear will become the big-three players, like ford, gm, and chrysler in the car market. the most iffy of the group is linksys, which is now owned by cisco. the two companies used to be competitors, especially in the low-end gigabit ethernet arena. i suspect that eventually linksys will become the pure 802.11 division of the company, and cisco will promote its own brand for fast routers. or cisco may just treat linksys as its consumer brand, although some consumers would probably like the cisco name more. i can't see why cisco even bought linksys, unless it was scared of the company. what happens next will be interesting to see.
netgear was one of the original players in the home hub market. after nortel bought the company, netgear faded fast, which is why i fear for linksys. but nortel ended up selling off all sorts of investments, and netgear was spun off and is competitive again. in fact, it was the first soho-oriented company that seriously pushed gigabit ethernet routers and cards. now everybody is making them.
d-link, meanwhile, is the company the competition loves to hatemostly because it's the market leader in a variety of segments and the price leader in many of them.

such a broad range of 802.11 gear is available from small vendors that compatibility is-sues must be settled quickly, or a company could lose future sales and suffer reputation damage. problems are being resolved fast, as everybody goes 802.11 mad.

with this as background, what exactly are some of the issues with 802.11 that we need to address? i have two peeves. the first is that the vendors of the gearwhether we're talking about 802.11a/b/g access points or plug-in cardsseldom if ever tell you the wattage of the radios. i think this is valuable information. why isn't it right on the boxes the products come in?

my second complaint has to do with the distance issue. if i want to do a point-to-point 802.11 rig, how far can i go, and how do i do it? if you read the literature, the theoretical distance limit of 802.11 is a little less than 2 miles. yet people are extending setups to about 10 to 15 miles. this means either that everything is out-of-spec, which isn't good, or the designs are flawed.

so i'm opening the forum this week for input on wireless technologies from readers. what problems and issues are you having with 802.11? maybe we can get some problems resolved before they become ubiquitous.

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About the Author

John C. Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the co-host of the twice weekly podcast, the No Agenda Show. His work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, PC/Computing, Computer Shopper, MacUser, Barrons, the DEC Professional as well as other newspapers and magazines. Former editor and consulting editor for InfoWorld, he... See Full Bio

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